SAFFC coach Richard Bok have announced on the SAFFC website the club determination to do well in 2010 in both S-league and Asia.

Richard Bok claimed the Warriors have been on a downward curve since 2008, despite winning the championship, and a revamp is due.

That why the Champions have opted to sign quality foreigners for next season so that they can compete in both S-league and Asia, where the club will once again seek to play in the ACL, as the Warriors snagged up 2 former European internationals (With one of them a former youth international) - a 31-year-old former Swedish national midfielder and a 25-year-old former Croatian youth international defender - in addition to a 26-year-old Uruguayan striker.

Before that, the Warriors have already secured the services of Albirex Niigata (S) midfielder Taisuke Akiyoshi, who can be registered for the Prime League, as well as retained Park Tae Won who played for them last season.

Other than that, the Warriors have captured Sengkang Punggol international pair of Indra and Noh Rahman as well as 4 players from - Hyrulnizam Juma'at and Erwan Gunawan - from Young Lions and - Rezal Hassan and Syaiful Iskandar - from Woodlands Wellington.The coach is also confident of the quality of their Prime league players like Hanafi Salleh, Azfar Zainal Abidin, Khairi Khalim and Dharham Aziz and that why he believed he has now a squad of 25 players to challenge both domestic and Asia front next season.

4 S-league stadiums are to be closed from June 1 until September for the YOG in addition to Bishan which has been closed since December 2008.

They will be upgraded so that it meet the standards for YOG and this hopefully mean S-league can benefit as well as our heartland stadiums are known to be 'community' stadiums rather than sport stadiums.

According to Jakarta Casual, ISL side Persija Jakarta, who has Singaporean Baihakki and Mustafic Fahrudin, is having problems finding a home stadium to play in.

While that may not seem like the same problem as Precious's club Swiriwjaya, it could end up that way as club there heavily depend on revenue collected from their home games to fund the club day-to-day running as well as pay the players and staffs and even if Persija Jakarta has a rich boss, it may be not long before he find it a bit painful to reach into the pocket to pick the tab every month.

Luckily for Baihakki, he already has a six-month advance on his pay while no such details was released about Fahrudin deal but pay issue is unlikely to surface in the next few months for a well-funded side like Persija.

Gombak United captain Sevki Sha'ban, who has been released by the club already, is linked with a move to Home United.

The 25-year-old have had a few superb seasons at the back with the Bulls since joining them back in 2006.

Before that, Sevki Sha'ban was with defunct side Sembawang Rangers and his career took a dip in 2005 when he was serving NS and was not chosen to play with the Young Lions meaning he had to miss an entire S-league season altogether.

But the tough defender show his melee, joining Gombak United and rebuild his career.

He was recently called to the senior side squad although he has yet to established himself but joining Home United, one of the Big 3, could be the next step in catching Raddy eye.

Vincent Subramaniam has rejected the Home United offer according to a Straits Times report and Home United are shocked and disappointed by the Singaporean coach U-turn.

Earlier, Home United have already announced on their site the arrival of Vincent Subramaniam and the Singaporean has agreed to take up the job next season but it seem there was a change of heart at the last moment.

While nobody, other than Vincent Subramaniam, know the reason for his U-turn, one can still take a guess and I guess it was his family as the Singaporean have left the Republic for a good period of time now and have reportedly settled well in India so to move lock and barrel back to Singapore for just a year (if he is unsuccessful at Home United) may not seem a good choice.

Still, in taking such a decision, he may have kill off his chances at coaching in the S-league now as few will dare take a chance on him in future if he show such indecisiveness.

In one of the biggest transfer this pre-season, both Aleksandar Duric and Noor Ali are joining Big three - Tampines Rovers.

While Duric has never played for Tampines Rovers before, Noor Ali has with him playing for Tampines Rovers in the late 90s.

But what must have surely attracted the Stags management to sign the two veterans must be their formidable partnership having played together from 2001 until 2007 with Geylang United first and then SAFFC.

In that time, both were successful with their clubs as Duric and Noor Ali first lead the Eagles to their second championship in 2001 after a five-year wait before repeating their magic in 2006 with SAFFC who had to wait for 4 years.

Most impressive had to be their scoring rate together with Noor Ali doing the assist and Duric adding the finish.

It saw Duric scored 121 goals in 159 games for Geylang United in a 4-year period and Noor Ali also chipped in a few himself during that time scoring 47 goals in 114 games.

Then at SAFFC, Duric scored 93 goals in 108 games and Noor Ali contributed 27 goals in 103 games.

With such impressive stats and a record of winning championships and trophies with their clubs during their time together, no wonder Tampines Rovers are tempted as they have waited 4 years for their next league championship.

Singapore Cup Champions, Geylang United, may be keen to strengthen their squad as they look to a busy 2010 but they first faced challenges in keeping their core intact.

Already, captain Noor Ali has left (Although it was Geylang who make that choice) and the Bedok club determination to retain some of their bigger names is expected to face some stern tests, particularly from established major players in the scene.

There are already been talk of Masnashzreen’s elder brother Masrezwan being approached by another local club, while stellar performances from Yazid Yasin and Jonathan Xu in the Cup final could also bring them to the attention of potential suitors.

One man almost certain to go is former J-League regular Haruki Seto, who has fallen out of favour in recent weeks and is understood to be eyeing a move to Australia’s A-League.

The possibility of seeing more names joining Seto in heading for the exit door could prove disruptive to Wong’s plans, yet he appeared placid about facing such a scenario.

“It’s normal for the bigger clubs to want to take my players,” he said.

“But then, I’m also taking some of their players! The good thing is that we have now qualified for the AFC Cup, so hopefully we can get some better players in.

“With due respect to the current players, we still need some more experience in our reserves. We can’t just keep putting untried youngsters into a Cup final or an AFC Cup game and expect miracles to happen.

“I have some targets, but I will try to convince them to come, because at least we can to travel to places further than Brunei!”

The 21 year old arrives after a personal successful season with Toronto Lynx of the USL Premier Development League*, where he was named Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year for the club but it may not be as impressive as it sound as the club had a terrible year; finishing dead-last in their division.

So the player should feel at home at Hougang where the club is expected to struggle again next season as the club have opted to get most of their new players from the Prime League ranks.

Aide Iskandar, Sengkang Punggol coach, had in the final game of the 2009 season against Woodlands send in Prime League players Zul Nor Farahin, Raymond Kwa, Nurhidayat Kamarudin, Ashley Ow and Israel Tan.

Aide said afterward that “90 per cent of the team” that played would be at the club next season and the likes of Darrel Tan, Shane Neubronner, Raymond Kwa and Jaspar Seet only started to made appearances in the S-league in the second half of the season under Aide.

Before that, with the exception of Ow and fullback Tan, all the others had previously never appeared for the Sengkang first team.

Still, the club have make a signing with keeper Fadhil Salim coming from Gombak, who have released the player, and retaining veteran keeper Amos Boon while seeing established internationals Noh Rahman and Inddra Sahdan leave.

-----

* USL Premier Development League is seen as a 'shop window' for MLS professional clubs looking to discover and identify aspiring professional players who may enter the MLS SuperDraft in future years. Many of the players currently playing in MLS began their careers in the PDL.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Time and time again, one see fans calling for local companies, especially the GLCs (Government-Linked companies) like Singtel or DBS etc, to support local football as foreign companies in the Republic are more supportive like RHB, who is from across the Causeway.

But I have given up that view as just a few months a GLC, SIA, already show me, like fellow Singaporean who only support another island football, they are indeed a Singaporean company as they only view foreigners as worthy of sponsoring, never local.

No doubt, it never cross their mind to sponsor locals as they rather looked overseas first, or only, when sponsoring sports and why it is so as they could have easily consider both local and foreign dual sponsorship thus benefitting their brand name in both lands. (Although I have to fair and acknowledged local companies like Yeo’s and Great Eastern for doing actually that and showing people they are Singaporean)

That why the Gombak-Erke deal show us where S-league future really lie.

It is in China SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) like Erke for having established themselves in their home region; they now wishes to expand outwards but faced a public relation problem as Chinese brands have suffered due to their association with safety problems.

In the same breath, Singapore brand name is opposite of their as it is well respected in the Asian region as the PAP government have poured in much efforts, since independence, to ensure others see Singapore as efficient, safe, trustworthy and incorruptible and local companies have benefitted from that.

That why China SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) want a piece of that reputation as well and S-league should explore that as Gombak is really showing us the benefits.

The size of the deal itself is already amazing as local apparel sponsorship are only in the region of five-figure sum but Erke deal is valued at about $600,000 - for 3 years - which is six times bigger than Home United $90000 deal with Kappa.

Six-figure sum are meant for main sponsorship but Erke has blow that away and no wonder as the size of China economy, as Asian biggest and the world second largest, mean they consider such sums a small prize to pay to piggyback on Singapore reputation back home (where Singapore brand name is very popular) and in Asia.

Indeed, this is Gombak United second deal with a Chinese company; the first back in 2008 with a Chinese developer who wanted to use Singapore to sell homes.

If S-league fully explores that relationship then main sponsorship for clubs in the seven-figure region are not unimaginable as Chinese companies have that money and they will use it if they believed it is enhancing their company brand name.

Then, S-league can compete; not just in the ASEAN region but in the Asian arena as well as that inflow of money will allow us to strengthen ourselves.

That why, local clubs and even FAS should picked up the phone and called John Yap now as S-league future is in the land of the dragons.

Egmar Gonclaves deserved a place in the S-league Hall of Fame just for the sheer number of goals he scored – 238 goals – but it is also for the part he played in the development of the S-league when it first started out.

It is doubtful though, the kind of success that await Egmar Gonclaves, would have dawn on the forward when he arrived as part of the 5-man Brazilian contingent at Police FC (Home United former name) with the club struggling to impose themselves on the league; finishing in the bottom 3 for the Tiger Beer Series and then dead last in the Pioneer Series.

But Egmar already show he had a future in the league for scoring goals was in his blood.

Indeed, he was such a hot property that the following year, in 1997, the forward was played a major role in which saw Marine Castle pullout of the league after their manager Dilwant Singh was found to have flout the poaching rule in approaching Egmar without informing Home United.

The forward continue to stay at Home United and goals continued to flow but the trophy cabinet was empty as success deludes the Bishan club.

It changed in 1999 as Home United won their first trophy, the S-league crown, and talk of Egmar Gonclaves being a Singaporean one day started.

In 2000, the forward scored the winning goal in the Singapore Cup Final dispatching the ball from the spotkick as Home United won 1-0 against their bitter rival SAFFC and it was the first Final graced and witnessed by President Nathan.

For the 2001 season, he along with new recruits Indra Sahdan and Peres De Oliveira formed the three Musketeers as the trio scored 71 of the 88 goals with Egmar being the first ever player to score 100 goals in the S-league (although in truth it was 107 as S-league later reinstalled the 7 goals he scored in 1997 Singapore Cup – then call the League Cup) as he notched 4 goals against SAFFC on June 7 to celebrate that achievement.

That year, Home United also became the first club to successfully defend the Singapore Cup crown as they destroyed just crowned League Champions Geylang United in the Final.

The forward then became a Singaporean in 2002 and he scored his first ever international goal against Maldives in a 2-0 win at Jalan Besar.

Success did not arrived in the international stage for the forward but he still managed 4 goals in 12 internationals and it is reasonable strike rate for any striker at the international level.

He also proved it at the AFC Cup as he finished as the competition first ever top scorer with 8 goals in 10 games in it inaugural year in 2004 as once again the three Musketeers of Indra, Peres and himself imposed themselves on the oppositions; scoring 20 goals between them to lead the club to the semi-final.

A year earlier, the trio had already played a major in Home United First Double – S-league and Singapore Cup – scoring 92 goals to crush all oppositions standing in their way.

But strangely, Egmar had to wait until 2004 to win his first ever S-league Top Scorer Award, with 35 goals, despite his goalscoring rate and it was fruitful year for him with him scoring the 200 S-league goals (By now, S-league have given back his 7 goals in 1997) as well.

It was achieved against Sinchi in the first leg of the semi-final of the Singapore Cup as the forward once again celebrated a milestone breached with a hat-trick as Home United crushed the Chinese side 5-1 at Hougang.

While 2004 will be the only year Egmar Gonclaves won the top scorer Award in Asia and Singapore, he will continued to score goals for the Bishan club as it was second nature to him in the next 2 years he remained in the S-league.

By the time, he left the league after 11 years; he will have scored 238 goals – all of them with Home United – as well as notched 14 goals in the AFC Cup with a minimum combined of 17 goals in Asia.

A remarkable achievement by the Home United forward and one which should not be forgotten.

Gombak United have announced Erke Sports as their new attire and apparel sponsors on Friday morning, in a landmark deal that sees the first major Chinese sportswear brand to feature in the S.League.

The agreement, officially signed at a press conference held at Jalan Besar Stadium, will bind the two parties together for the next three years.

Under the deal, which is valued at about $600,000, Erke Sports will be supplying Gombak’s S.League side with matchday jerseys and shorts, as well as all training kit, equipment and other sports apparel.

The club’s Prime League and age-group teams will also don apparel provided by Erke Sports for the duration of the deal.

Erke Sports is part of the Hongxing Erke Group, major manufacturer and distributor of the Erke brand of sportswear and casualwear, one of the leading brands in China.

Founded in 2000, the brand has become a burgeoning success in the country’s domestic market, with more than 4,500 brand stores all across the country.

Erke Sports have since broken onto the international scene as well, scoring many major coups over a variety of sports, such as the ATP Shanghai Masters and Doha open in tennis and the Tour of Hainan in the international cycling circuit.

They are also sponsors of top NBA sides Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as tennis stars Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands.

In the football realm, Erke Sports’ claim to fame can be found in the form of the DPR Korea men’s national team, who have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2010 finals to be held in South Africa.

Having made these achievements, their attention is now turned closer to home, as they look to break into the Far East market.

“We hope that this collaboration could effectively increase our brand’s exposure and credibility in Singapore and neighbouring countries,” said Mr. Jeffrey Li, Managing Director of Erke Sports’ International Market Centre.

“As part of our international marketing strategy, we choose to focus on different sports in different markets. In the case of Singapore, we know that soccer is the No.1 sport here, and that is why we have concentrated our tie-up efforts here on soccer.

“We know that Gombak United have enjoyed success in Singapore, and they benefit from good exposure. We hope this will help increase our brand exposure here.

“We are very young compared to big names like Nike and adidas, but we are developing very fast. We are already selling our products in 30 countries worldwide, and we will definitely try and make every effort we can to build our brand here in Singapore.”

Gombak chairman John Yap was also very positive about the club’s new partnership with Erke, whose products are available at all Sportslink retail outlets in Singapore.

“Erke is a household name in China’s local market, besides having substantial presence as well in the international markets,” he said.

“Gombak United Football Club strongly believes this collaboration with Erke will enable the brand to make further inroads into the Far East markets, starting from Singapore. And there is no bigger platform than the S.League to achieve this goal.

“The Club will endeavour to work closely with Erke to help establish a benchmark for the brand in Singapore. Our players, technical staff and officials will wear the Erke brand with much pride, honour and distinction as we set out to achieve our goals.”

Young Lions defender Obadin Aikhena have return to Jurong West-based Gombak United for the 2010 season after spending two years with the Young Lions.

The Nigerian have played 68 times, as well as scoring 10 goals, for the Young Lions.

As Obadin Aikhena have yet to gain citizenship, Gombak United will have to release a foreigner from their ranks and Thai midfielder Theerawekin Seehawong has been chosen as that player.

Former Singapore Under-23 goalkeeper Fadhil Salim as well as defenders Sevki Sha’ban and Yusiskandar Yusop are the other players leaving Gombak.At the same time, the Bulls have promoted Zakariah Nerani and Armanizam Dolah from the Prime League squad.

It should come as no surprise as Geylang United captain Noor Ali had earlier expressed his frustration his club had not yet come forward to present him with a new deal for 2010.

But, in the end, it was still a surprise for me as the Singapore Cup champions are in Asia next year playing in the AFC Cup and they lacked an experienced campaigner like Noor Ali for such an important competition.

However, it seem the club have decided, at 34 years of age, it was better to give the slot to a younger player to gain that experience or they believed they have somebody better than Noor Ali (Which I doubt; considering among their ranks, most are workhorses not creative players) as they released their captain.

Still, the 34-year-old should have no fear about finding a new club having played a major role in Geylang United's Singapore Cup triumph.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Wooden Spoon winner Balestier Khalsa is looking at youth, again, for their targets for 2010 but this time there is more promise in term of quality as Young Lions midfielder Goh Swee Swee have been linked with the Toa Poyah club.

The 23-year-old started his S-league career with Gombak United but only played 1 game before joining Home United; who showed more interest in the player by offering S-league term contract instead of the Prime league term contract Gombak United gave him.

He returned the favour immediately as he scored in the league opener against Dalian Shide at the last moment to gave Home United a 2-1 victory.

But the then-forward found it hard to start upfront with Home United having Peres, Indra and Ludovick in their ranks and he has to be conetent with role as rightback or right midfielder role.

The Young Lions then took him on in 2008 and he was converted into a midfielder.

He has played 37 times for the Young Lions and scoring twice for the Jalan Besar side.

With Aleksandar Duric comments to the S-league website he is set to join a club in the East, the scorer of 286 goals in the domestic game is now linked with Big 3 side Tampines Rovers who are rumored to have approached the 39-year-old.

The former Warriors forward have been linked with Big 3 side Home United and Singapore Cup Champions Geylang United as well.

It is clear the Singapore international do not lacked offers whichever club he wished to join in 2010.

MediaCorp Today have reported S-League side Super Reds are set for a total overhaul.

The Yishun-based Korean club, which joined Singapore's premier domestic football competition in 2007 as its seventh foreign side, are planning on becoming a local club.

They have released 18 of their 20-strong squad of Korean players who featured in the Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League 2009, keeping only midfielder Seo Su Jong, 22, and 21-year-old forward Park Kang Jin.

Seo and Park scored eight and five goals, respectively, in the recently concluded season.

"We retained them because they are young and can contribute to Singapore football," Super Reds team manager Francis Lee told MediaCorp.

"They have been here for about three years, and maybe they could even represent the country one day."

Housed at the Yishun Stadium, the club are also considering changing their name to Yishun Reds.

Said Lee: "We have been here for three years, and as a club, we want to do more in terms of community outreach and play a bigger role in the development of Singapore football, and have more people living in the Yishun area support the team."

He added that club chairman Charlie Yoon, chief executive officer of the Super Reds' main sponsor QT Technologies, was committed to the change.